DEL MAR — It wasn’t enough that Shared Belief had to prove he could go a mile and a quarter and beat quality older horses for the first time. He had to go and make life difficult for jockey Mike Smith.

Shared Belief, the 6-5 favorite, brushed the side of the gate and broke awkwardly in Sunday’s $1 million Grade I Pacific Classic at Del Mar, sending Smith into brief panic mode.

“I thought, ‘This is great. Not only are we facing the toughest group he’s ever faced, but now I just gave them a head start,’” Smith said.

Not to worry.

Shared Belief quickly righted himself and went on to a powerful 2 3/4 length victory over Toast of New York in the 1 1/4-mile Classic, running the distance in 2:00.28 in front of 28,290 and stamping himself as one of the top two 3-year-olds in the country along with California Chrome.

The gelded son of Candy Ride ran his unbeaten record to 6-0, and he’s won the races by a combined 31 3/4 lengths. He’s also the fifth 3-year-old to win Del Mar’s signature race in its 24 runnings, joining Best Pal, General Challenge, Came Home and Dullahan.

Lucky for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer he didn’t see Shared Belief brush the gate, thus avoiding any anxiety he might have felt.

“You could see by the quarter pole he was going to have a good chance to run the leaders down,” Hollendorfer said. “Just another really good turn of foot by this horse. It’s quite extraordinary the way he does that.”

Shared Belief was sixth after the first six furlongs as Game On Dude, pressed early by 25-1 longshot Mystery Train, set blistering fractions of 22.49, 45.75 and 1:10.08. Perhaps the most impressive part of the race other than Shared Belief’s performance was the fact the Bob Baffert-trained gelding held on to finish fourth.

But Baffert was in no mood for consolation prizes.

“I think (Game On Dude) was gonna win if they hadn’t gone after him like that,” he said. “It’s frustrating to train a horse and get him ready for his biggest race and have a horse who has no shot to win take that chance away.”

But make no mistake, Shared Belief was much the best on this day, surviving a brief stewards’ inquiry and proving Smith made the right decision when he chose to ride the winner instead of Game On Dude.

Smith also won the $250,500 Grade II Del Mar Mile aboard Tom’s Tribute five races before the Classic and finished the afternoon with four victories.

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“I wanted this race so bad,” he said. “This (day) ranks right up there in the top five (of his career).”

If the Hall of Fame rider didn’t know how good Shared Belief is after he rode him for the first time in the Los Alamitos Derby, he does now.

“None of us knew how good he really is,” Smith said. “Today he showed it. To spot the field four or five lengths and still win the way he did, that’s impressive.”

For TV and radio personality Jim Rome, part owner of Shared Belief, the dream continues. He also owned a share of two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Mizdirection.

“I’ve long said the thoroughbred racing game can be a kick in the ass and a punch in the face, and we’ve taken our share of punches to the face,” he said. “But some of the greatest days of my life have been spent at the track.”

We may get the answer come Breeders’ Cup time at Santa Anita Park when the two, if they stay healthy, are expected to square off in the $5 million Classic.

“What a great thing for racing,” Smith said. “It’s going to be incredible.”

But Mike, who’s better?

“Let’s wait and all get together and see what happens,” he said.

Said Rome: “The horses will do the talking.”

With the victory, Shared Belief kept alive his chance to earn a $1 million bonus for his owners. The Bolton Insurance Challenge guaranteed the hefty sum to any horse that could sweep the Los Alamitos Derby, Pacific Classic and Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Two down, one to go.

Toast of New York made it a 1-2 finish for the race’s only 3-year-olds. He would have been the first international shipper to win the Classic.

“He ran a great race, the race of his life,” trainer Jamie Osborne said. “No hard feelings. The first two horses were the best. The winner may be the best 3-year-old anywhere.”

Osborne may get an argument on that from the California Chrome and Wicked Strong camps, but on this day Shared Belief reigned supreme.